Inspiration
Found words poetry. It can be particularly satisfying to create something beautiful out of something not-so-beautiful.
Process
Find a news article (anywhere online or in print) and select ten words to highlight. Use as many of those words as you can as you create a brand-new poem that might or might not have anything to do with the original topic.
In my case, the article I chose (from 2017) was a commentary by Berlin’s mayor about the intentions of the U.S. president to build a wall, so I tried to write from the perspective of the Berliners who have already lived and suffered through such a thing.
However, you could just as easily take a news article and turn it into a pleasant observation, or take a book review and turn it into a character study. Have fun trying to take the words in an entirely new direction!
Kip’s Poem
http://www.berlin.de/rbmskzl/aktuelles/pressemitteilungen/2017/pressemitteilung.555498.php
This news piece is in German, so I translated the ten words I chose to highlight:
division
wall
freedom
20th Century
overcome
spirit
historical
thank
appeal
suffering
Spirits heavy,
we watch, wait, worry.
Division nothing new here–
thanks to the historical specter
of our own 20th Century wall,
the way it tore apart
families, friendships, hopes.
If you’d care to listen,
we can tell you
what your wall will bring:
the dream of freedom replaced
with suffering,
brick by brick,
stone by stone,
hope crushed under the boots
of border guards.
We pale, shudder, tremble
at the idea of another wall
being planned an ocean away.
Hearts in hand,
we appeal to your humanity,
we beg you:
stop.
Kip Wilson is the author of White Rose, a YA novel-in-verse about anti-Nazi political activist Sophie Scholl. White Rose won the 2017 PEN New England Susan P. Bloom Children’s Book Discovery Award and is a 2019 Winter/Spring Indies Introduce and Spring Indies Next title. It ‘s debut was April 2, 2019 with HMH’s Versify imprint. Kip holds a Ph.D. in German Literature, is the poetry editor at YARN (Young Adult Review Network), and wrote her doctoral dissertation about the poet Rainer Maria Rilke. She’s lived in Germany, Austria, and Spain, and currently calls Boston home.
My poem is inspired by an article about mass escapes from a detention center in Southern Mexico. Here are the words I chose: Escape, Immigration, Detention, Overloaded , Fleeing, Capacity, Recaptured, Distraught, Busloads, Deportation
https://www.foxnews.com/world/hours-after-mass-escape-migrants-chant-for-food-freedom
What do we have to lose?
Do you really think the immigration police are going to scare us?
Do you think we haven’t lived in worse conditions than this detention center?
What will you do when busloads of us flee?
It’s really almost laughable,
What you think about us.
We escaped Guatemala when we couldn’t take it anymore.
We were distraught at the thought of our living conditions
And we knew we had to flee.
We didn’t know the when we were caught
We’d be sent to a detention center overloaded with desperate people just like us.
Where the capacity limit was merely a suggestion.
We needed to flee yet again.
And if we are recaptured?
We will have to face our worst fear-
Deportation
from an 8th grade word of the week list: afflicted, semblance, rational, perceptive, procession, stupor, confined, errant jubilation, deterioration, revelation, penchant, cumbersome, exert, speculate, trudge, gargantuan, ordeals, pallid, prowess, coy, liberal, integrated, unison.
Ignorance
I have been afflicted
with a fine ecstasy.
No semblance of
rational consideration,
Perceptive only to the
procession of my own
selfish stupor,
Confined by my errant jubilation.
My deterioration is revelation:
Bliss.
Gone is my penchant for the
Cumbersome,
No longer
to exert,
or speculate,
or trudge,
through gargantuan ordeals.
No longer
The pallid face
of progress
and prowess.
No coy mistress,
this dearth of awareness.
This liberal disregard,
integrated with
ample apathy,
in unison,
sings the volumes
of my
ignorance.
Steve, The source of your inspiration is terrific. It has me thinking about my word walls in a whole new way. This poem reminds me how comfortable a state of unknowing can be,, but the somewhat sarcastic tone made me laugh! Thanks for this!
Steve — I read this several times and thought how clever this is. You’ve really brought the hammer down on ignorance! Each of the images you wove with the word list is engaging, causing me to want to wake up the “deteriorating” “I” with “ample apathy.” I love the notion of taking your word of the week list and playing with it — a cool exercise for your kids to do! Susie
Steve, the “no coy mistress” allusion is a clever commentary on those who do not sieve the opportunity to learn, those for whom “ignorance” is “bliss,” this “dearth of awareness.” These themes are constantly on my mind. What a world we live in.
What a perfect source for the word list! I can see this being a great classroom exercise with the teacher sharing work alongside the students. Just love what you’ve done with this.
The words came from a Newsela article called, “For Christians in Sri Lanka, violence is at once old and new”. The words I chose were: common humanity, targetting, decades of violence, compassion, extremist, terror, spirit, attack. (I kept a couple as phrases because they worked well together.)
Terror
Paralyzing fear
of different ideas
of different beliefs
of being wrong.
The result–
tossing out reason,
attacking innocents,
targeting beliefs
different from our own.
Decades of violence.
What has happened
to compassion?
to “live and let live”
to dialogue.
We’ve traded it for
extremism.
How will God answer
a generation who
ignores
a common humanity?
Powerful poem. I’m so glad you ended this with a call for humanity. This truly is beauty out of something not-so-beautiful.
Gail, This has been on my mind, weighing on my heart for days, and I haven’t really given time to letting it sink in. Your poem offer this time, this necessary time to ponder “a generation who ignores a common humanity.” I see such hope in my students who share and listen with sympathy and empathy every day that it is so difficult to think about the perpetrators here and that they were once students, that they are children, sisters, brothers, parents. Terror.
Gail, your poem brings things close to home, even though the topic seems to be foreign. You force us to pause and think what we are trading away to get in our own country. The lines
Paralyzing fear
of different ideas
of different beliefs
of being wrong.
makes us wonder what we are afraid of.
Your closing lines
How will God answer
a generation who
ignores
a common humanity?
remind us of a higher Being to whom we must answer AND who will give us strength to do what’s right today.
Thank you for the challenge and the hope.
“Tossing out reason….different from our own.” Such truth. What a way to end – with a question that calls for consideration of humanity. Strong reminder and powerful words for today!
this could be the perception of several sides–very cool.
Gail — You’ve selected a topic that really matters and have delivered important questions in those last lines. Being able to trigger such important questions with so few words is really effective…we must find a “common humanity.” Thanks! Susie
Gail, the question at the end is one for the ages. Each time I hear news about violence in Sri Lanka I think about Michael Ondaatje’s “Running in the Family” and the Sri Lanka in that book w/ its characters who made me laugh. “Decades of violence” make that Sri Lanka a distant past.
This week’s “New Yorker” features a review, “The Art of John Hersey,” about a new biography on the writer. I’ve long been fascinated w/ Hersey’s objective, reportorial style in “Hiroshima” and imagined what Hersey might say in this age of “fake news” and “alternative facts.” The validation of mainstream media is for me, perhaps, the most important revelation in the Mueller Report.
The words:
*Veracity
*Moral triumph
*Moral engagement
*Missionary
*NonFiction novel
*Recitative writing
*Journalistic engineering
*War poetry
*Quasi-religious
*Deliberatively quiet
The poem:
“On Reporting: Advice From John Hersey”
A journalist need not resort to
Quasi-religious rhetoric to
Achieve moral triumph. Faith in
Repertorial art necessitates
Journalistic Engineering, a focus on
Veracity as in the nonfiction novel
“Hiroshima,” critics say, achieves
Moral engagement like a war poet pens
Deliberatively quiet moments, selective
Recitative writing, a laser-like focus on
Proselytizing readers as a missionary
Saves souls with story, art, fact, and truths.
Oh wow, what a great way to tie together this biography, current events, and reporting. And that last line: “Saves souls with story, art, fact, and truths.” Love it so.
Glenda,
This poem reads like an argument essay — at once teaching, moving the reader toward some deeper knowing of word and world. The language in here is so beautiful and haunting: “repertorial art necessitates” and “veracity as in the nonfiction novel.”
Glenda, your closing stanza describes the reading and writing exercising we’ve been having this month drafting poems that focus on current issues based on past experiences, observations and lessons learned by reading.
Recitative writing, a laser-like focus on
Proselytizing readers as a missionary
Saves souls with story, art, fact, and truths.
The final line “Saves souls with story, art, fact, and truths” is one of the reason many ELA educators encourage wide reading to broaden our understanding of others and to encourage us to take stock of the way we interact, support and care for one another.
Many faith teachings concur that the way we treat one another will determine our destiny here and in the world to come.
Hersey’s parents were missionaries in China, and he spent his first ten years there. Years ago I studied the letters in the New Yorker after the magazine published Hiroshima. I was curious about the reaction to this anti-war text given the absence of Buddhists in it. Hersey features the stories of two Protestants instead.
“Writing….saves souls.” I love this. The beliefs and truths that we take up as crosses we’ll die on are rooted in the faith we have in those words and their truths. Potent poetry here!!
Glenda — The provocative tone of this is wonderful, urging us to think deeply about what is real and ethical. Writing is an opportunity to “achieve moral engagement” — yes! A very interesting text! I really like it. Susie
A Sonnet for Julie
A mirror held to our physical space
reflecting all I can and could not see.
Mine: distorted, fractured, truth not a trace.
Yours: questioning, probing to what can be.
New to the school as was I, finding ways
into the lands of this age, visiting
with patience to listen, observe, engage
then inspiring me, others, enliv’ning
our classrooms, stirring ideas bright
to teach the whole child- heart, body, and mind
to reflect on our choices- revise with light
to always come back to what is kind.
You have made your place in these halls of teens,
and we love how you make us all feel seen.
Julie and I co-teach. She asked to join our class just a few weeks ago, and this is based on my experience of her and the article I read about co-teaching; https://education.wm.edu/centers/ttac/resources/articles/consultcollaborate/coteachingmovingbeyond/index.php
Amazing. I had not expected a sonnet from found words! What a beautiful tribute.
I love that your poetry honors someone you appreciate and admire – – and does so with a sonnet form and a news article choice of words. Different blends of ingredients make this poetry cake taste extra-special!
Sarah — Wow, I want to be somebody’s Julie! What a lovely acknowledgment of the guidance and inspiration that Julie has shared with you. The part I liked the best is that she brought questioning and probing of what can be and stirring…. having people like that around you is like having magic beans in your pocket. How wonderful! Our schools and classrooms really are a village. Thanks, Susie
Sarah, your lines
New to the school as was I, finding ways
into the lands of this age,
remind me so much of the experience our pre-service and new teachers have those first few months as educators. It is both my hope and prayer that they have a mentor who will help them through those times when they feel, as you say “distorted, fractured,”.
Your poem further shows that it is not just new teachers who experience this and that we all need one another no matter how long we’ve been on this professional career path.
Thank you for being that to so many who visit your website.
I am lucky enough to work with a “Julie” too. Our schools need more people who “probe what can be” and “teach the whole child-heart mind and body”. Your school is lucky to have Julie (and I’m pretty sure you too).
Sarah, this is a lovely tribute to a colleague. The images of light cast a glow on the synergy you two share. “Storing ideas bright” and “revise with light” are lovely images
NOTE: My words (but mostly just reactions to today’s review of Joan Baez’ farewell concert) are in response to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch article. A bit of “found” but really I was just reminded of something now almost lost.
A Canticle for Joan Baez
Saying goodbye is a song
almost impossible to sing,
chokes in my throat,
quavers,
wells in my eyes,
and the days long gone blur and drip away.
Saying goodbye carries this confounding moment
of needing to nail a foot to the floor of time,
not let go
of the lingering notes and measures
we echoed,
of what we stood for.
Saying goodbye, feeling you exit the stage,
floods across my younger days
brings back the songs and causes,
marches in the rain.
Saying goodbye lets loose the voices,
re-chants anthems and refrains
that drew a haunting consonance
“…with so many reasons why
there but for fortune
go you and I.”
by Susie Morice
What an emotional poem! Well done. Btw, LOVE this line: “and the days long gone blur and drip away.” O.O
This line: “…….. this confounding moment
of needing to nail a foot to the floor of time,
not let go” speaks to every reader about everything we’ve ever felt like holding onto for forever. I love your last line as a refrain. Incredible creativity!
Oh, Susie! Your first stanza here puts into words how I am feeling in the last days of my sister-in-law’s life. The grief is palpable “chokes in my throat/quavers/wells in my eyes.” And as you move through the stanzas,I feel the honoring of what Joan gifted to your “younger days.”
Susie, as others have said the emotion in your poem streams out and pulls at our heart strings.
Your writing about this very personal relationship with a musician reminds us as educators to invite our students to practice their writing by reflecting on what is important and meaningful to them. In doing so they, too, will have opportunities to explore and release feelings that may have been pent up and clouding their ability to take in new information we’re trying to share with them.
At the same time, we also must honor their privacy to share or not share what they write, and even more to nurture a classroom environment where such sharing is safe.
Thanks for honoring us,here, with this heart tugging poem.
“Saying goodbye is a song/almost impossible to sing,” very insightful and creative. without the title this can be about so many. love how your poem is so universal.
Susie,
These lines spoke to me:
Saying goodbye, feeling you exit the stage,
floods across my younger days
brings back the songs and causes,
marches in the rain.
It reminds me of how much a song or singer can take you to a moment in time and that past version of yourself. Joan Baez may no longer perform, but her music will always be able to speak to you.
Susie, your poem has an aching tone. “There but for fortune go you and I” reverberates across time. Is this a commentary on grace? I think about the role fate and dumb luck play in our lives. Joan Baez is as timely and important now as she was in the 60s.
Article:
The New Yorker – April 29, 2019
Dept. of Shoe Leather, “Hideous,” p. 21
Words Highlighted:
Yellow rain slicker
Red stripes
Aviator sunglasses
Slicked-back hair
Scronched
Pummelled
Plane-sized
Pretzels
The Red Sunglasses
scronched hair depends
upon
red aviator
sunglasses
pummelled with plane-sized
pretzels
beside the yellow
rain slicker
-Kim Johnson
*Patterned after William Carlos Williams’
“The Red Wheelbarrow”
Kim – In some ways this reminds me of a flash-mob. It pops out of a bigger scene and is that momentary splash of something unexpected. Fun to read out loud. Happy Wednesday! Susie
Oh, I love that this piece really has TWO sources–your New Yorker article and the WCW poem–and yet you made this into something special.
Kim, such a cool way to integrate the prompt and a pattern. Love the single word lines, reminds me of the lazy sonnet and Travis’s prompt on the Kwame Alexander day. The image of the red-aviator/sunglasses is so vivid, alongside pretzels, rain slicker. Love this one (and all your others).
Kim, reading each of your poems, I am impressed by the power of carefully selected words to compound a emotion throughout the poem. Your use of participles enliven descriptions so succinctly. “Sconched and pummeled!” We don’t need a photograph. Your words create pictures for us!
very clever. wcw is one of my favorite poets. i’m going to try some thoughts with the wheelbarrow format. great idea
Kim, love that you modeled your commentary on fashion after “The Red Wheelbarrow.” Somehow seemingly disparate clothing and accessories “work” to make a fashion statement, to create an “image” for its time. Now, I’m reading that article.